AFTER THE WEDDING

SYNOPSIS:Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen) runs a faltering Bombay orphanage and when a wealthy Danish benefactor, Jorgen (Rolf Lassgard) who could save the place insists on meeting him, Jacob reluctantly leaves Bombay for, he hopes, a brief trip. After a perfunctory meeting, Jorgen invites Jacob to the weekend wedding of his daughter Anna (Stine Fischer Christensen) to Christian (Christian Tafdrup). At the reception, Anna's impromptu speech inadvertently reveals a family secret that implicates her mother Helene (Sidse Babbett Knudsen) and shocks Jacob. It's the beginning of a chain of changes to all their lives.

Review by Andrew L. Urban:Nominated for the Foreign Language Oscar (2007) - among many other nominations and awards - After the Wedding is another triumph for Susanne Bier and her collaborator Anders Thomas Jensen. As in Open Hearts and Brothers, two other films they have made together, the filmmakers have created a complex work that locks in on several elemental human emotions about relationships. In this scenario, the past meets the present and determines a new future. The elements of the story are not entirely original (though I'll refrain from revealing the crucial elements, as they are best revealed by the film itself) but the way Biers directs the material, these elements are certainly fresh.

Much of the filmís multi-dimensional effect comes from exceptional performances: Mads Mikkelsen again creates a tangible, multi-faceted character, whose emotional predicament is at the heart of the film. But not exclusively: Rolf Lassgard articulates Jorgenís own, dramatic emotional journey with nuance and ultimately earns our admiration; Stine Fischer Christensen has won several awards for this brilliant performance as the character at the centre of the family secret; and Sidse Babbett Knudsen gives Helene a warm and vulnerable glow in a pivotal role. Nor will you forget Neeral Mulchandani as the 8 year old orphan, Pramod.

After the Wedding is seamless, holding our attention, engaging our emotions and satisfying our cinematic needs with a story of human weakness, strength, heart and the capriciousness of fate.